FileMaker Pro 12 Running on El Capitan or Sierra

To start a thread on using FileMaker Pro 12 on El Capitan or Sierra: Installation, use, limitations, bugs, and warnings.

My Status & Report of 1 Minor Bug:

I installed FileMaker Pro 12 years ago on a Late 2012 27" iMac when FMP12 was the current version. Since then, I have gone through all Apple's system upgrades and am now using Sierra. FMP12 seems to still be functional for my everyday use in my business. The only issue I have experienced since El Capitan is that I have to open the program first prior to opening any documents. If I try to directly double-click a file (if the Program is not already open), the file opens, but I cannot make changes to the data about 60% of the time, 40% of the time there is no problem. Not like a typical freeze. If that happens, I quit the program and open Filemaker first, then everything works fine. I have not tried all the functions yet, but I will keep you informed if I find any other issues. The bottom line is that FM Pro 12 is still doing everything I need including printing.

Next Hurdle & General Question:

I am about to purchase an early 2015 MacBook Air. It should come with either El Capitan or Sierra pre-installed. I hope to install my copy of FM 12 (From the original CD) on it as my portable for when I am out of the office. Is there anything I should be aware of that anyone else with 12 has experienced? Any other FM Pro 12 users out there? Will it just install as is or should I expect crashes due to all Apple's installation modifications over the last four years? What are your experiences or work-arounds?

Please DO NOT respond just to give me all the reasons to upgrade unless you have proof of dire consequences:

Looking up errors is one thing, but if you still want to use 12, one solution would be to install a Mac Virtual machine which ran 12 without issues. I don't recall what version that was, but you could research it.

Using a program like Parallels, VM Fusion, and probably the free Virtual Box, you could have an environment just for FMP 12 which is running the Mac OS that has no issues (10.10, 10.11, ...?). Using VM Fusion as one example, you can share folders and other devices so you're not "cut off" from the rest of your Mac in the VM. Having a VM is extremely useful. I use a VM for Windows currently, mainly, and it works fine.

Unless there's a compelling reason to upgrade, setting up a 10.12 Mac Virtual Machine is actually what I'm planning to do to continue using 14 with no problems (and no need to upgrade) if I have any issues with Mac version 10.13 or beyond.

I realized that there is another glitch to FMP12 (originally installed when it was current) since upgrading to El Capitan: Fields do not automatically save. I have to switch to a new record before the current record is saved. It is annoying but minor glitch.

So my new MacBook Air, Early 2015 arrived loaded with Sierra. I tried installing FileMaker Pro using Okramis' technique from my original FMP CD. After inserting the CD, a window opens with the Filemaker Pro 12.pkg installer and other folders.

I tried three things and none worked. First I dragged the FileMaker Pro 12.pkg to the desktop. Ran the installation from there. The installer declared success. But when I opened the program, I got this dialog box (see below) and the system did not allow the program to start up. Dragging the pkg icon to the desktop worked fine on Snow Leopard, but not here with Sierra:

Second I tried exactly what Okramis suggested dragging the CD Icon from the header to the desktop while pressing the option key, to run it from there. I ran the installer from there, it said success, but I got the same dialog box.

Third, I had an external drive with a full Superduper backup (of my iMac with Sierra where FMP 12 still works through gradual system upgrades). I thought, why not just see what happens. I double-clicked on the program from the backup and got the same result. So no luck so far.

Okramis, Your technique was a success. Here is exactly what I saw & did. This is slightly different than what you did since I have a CD and not a dmg, and therefore did not have to "show package contents" or right-click anything:

1. Copied the FileMaker CD icon to the desktop which turned it into a folder.

2. The open folder revealed both the "FileMaker Pro 12.pkg" (at the top) and the "Assisted Install.txt" document at the lower right of the same window.

3. I opened the txt document and did the following:

a) Added my license information (including all the dashes)

b) Set AI_REGISTRATION TO 0

c) Saved the changes.

4. Double-clicked the "FileMaker Pro 12.pkg" to begin the installation. It followed through to say "success".

5. The program opened fine and allowed me to do some initial movement through a database.

I will test the system gradually over time to see if there are any glitches. But for now I am very Happy. Thanks Okramis.

I do not want to mark this or yours as a correct answer yet because that may cut off discussion.

Okramis, Your technique was a success. Here is exactly what I saw & did. This is slightly different than what you did since I have a CD and not a dmg, and therefore did not have to "show package contents" or right-click anything:

yes, as I have written, on FMP12 the file to edit is not in the package, this applies to FMP11...

Great thread. I haven't experienced any issues in any of the latest OS X a.k.a macOS version with FileMaker 12. However, I never had to re-install. It just continues to work after being originally installed in Mavericks.

I actually prefer FM12 over 13/14/15 and bought them all. FM16 is a major step forward which you might want to consider in the macOS coming out after 'High Sierra'. At that point FM12 will cease to work since it is a 32bit application and that particular macOS update will only support 64bit software.

But that is another two years away and there is nothing wrong with sticking what works and suits your particular needs. Kudos!

johnnyboykay's solution worked for me too with a little tweaking. Since I didn't have a CD, just the download package which was locked, I could not edit the "Assisted Install.txt" document. First, I created a folder on the hard drive and named it 'FileMaker Pro 12 Advanced' (the same name as the installer package). I then dragged and dropped the contents of the package to the newly created folder. I then followed the instructions for editing the "Assisted Install.txt" file with my license code etc. and ran the installer from within that folder. It installed properly and I was able to open and use the app.